Collin's New Sayings

It's rare that Collin does not have something to say these days. Here are just a few that I can remember from this weekend:

• If he knows he is doing something he is not supposed to, he looks up at me and says "I love you Mommy" and then smiles. Ugh!!! How am I supposed to discipline him after that?


• If he thinks he has hurt me in any way, like stepping on my feet, he will say "I'm sorry Mommy" or "Are you OK?"


• Sometimes when he poops in his underwear, he will look at me and say "I'm a stink butt". He got this from me calling him a stink butt as a nickname. I stopped that one a few months ago but I guess it stuck. Stink butt sure is appropriate when he has poop in his underwear.


• If we are sitting on the couch together, he uses his elbows to push off on me. Well, most of the time, he jabs his elbow into my boob. Since I know he is going to do this, I will hold the side of my boob until he gets up. He saw me doing this and asked "I hurt your boobie? Are you OK?" Who cannot help laughing after that? I actually held it in as best as I could.

He also sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating. I am afraid he is going to bite it one of these days. Here he is doing it when he was about to "drive" the tractor.

Ella and Collin

Ella came over for a visit today with her mommy, Ashley. She is the Ella in My Blog List to the right. It was an awesome day outside that I opened the windows and the back door. The kids had a blast playing in the back with Collin's trucks. Ella liked walking on the rocks and Collin followed her around. She would take a break by coming back inside to play on Collin's little piano then go back outside. The mommies sat outside or stood by the back door catching up and watching the kids play.

When it was time for lunch, the kids made their own pizza. Hey, I get tired of making Collin's meals every time. He is in the "I want to do it" stage anyway so he needs to pull his own weight. Ella better learn too, right? Here they are putting on the ingredients for their pizza. They actually did not make a mess like I thought they would (hence the reason Ella has her shirt off).

Collin ate a few bites of his pizza but Ella really liked hers. He was more interested in trying to get on the table or do something else besides eat. He must have gotten really bored (we make him sit at the table until we are all finished eating) that he leaned over and blew on the back of Ella's back. The mommies started to laugh which made Collin do this over and over again. It really did not phase Ella. She continued to finish her pizza and then started to eat Collin's since he was not going to. Of course, this made us laugh even harder. Ashley got this on video. You will have to check her blog out when she posts it. Words cannot really describe how funny it really was. Boys will be boys, right?

Here he is cleaning up after Ella left. Hey, gotta start him young.

Uncle David's Birthday Party

Saturday, we went to Beard Ranch to celebrate uncle David's birthday. He is Collin's great, great uncle. Mary and Dawn made the noon meal which was awesome! Plenty of food as usual when those two cook. Collin got to hang out with some of his favorite people: Mimi, Pappy, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Paul, cousin Dustin and Timmy, Rex and his wife, Louise, Melanie and some other relatives that I already forgot their names (Mom, forgive me...you are better at remembering those things than me). Collin and Timmy had a great time outside. It was such a gorgeous day that I am glad Collin did want to be outside. There were several dogs out though so he did yell for me to pick him up when he saw one. Here are Timmy and Collin in the back of a....well, I don't know what this is. It did not matter, because it hat a steering wheel and buttons to push. David might not know what happened to it when he tries to start it up next time....hahaha.



Here is Collin in a HUGE tractor. What would a ranch be without a tractor?












We did walk around and look in the old barns. Dustin liked picking things up and asking Mimi what they are. Collin wanted to follow him around but the brush and grass was taller than he was. I did feel like we were part of the show American Pickers when we were doing this. Great show if you have not seen it.

Montessori Adventures

School closed early Friday to get ready for Montessori Adventures which was a space themed festival at the school later that night. When I arrived at Collin's room, they were in the middle of a song so I stayed to watch them sing. Collin only hung on me instead of participating in the song like the rest of the kids. His teacher said he usually participates because it involves dancing and jumping in place. After leaving school, we went to a local park since it was such a nice day outside. He had fun watching the other big boys run around and play with each other. I enjoyed watching him watch them and then imitate what they just did. For instance, one of the boys yelled through a microphone at the top of the slide and then slid down. Collin did the same thing but smiled at me before he slid down. Here he is climbing up the posts like the big boys just did (they are at the top).

We then came home for a quick snack and rest before heading back to school for Montessori Adventures. Just as I thought...the place was a mad house with lots of parents and kids crammed into his school. In each classroom, there was a different space themed activity. There was a space walk in one of them (musical chairs) where Collin won a bag of cookies. He really liked space bowling....but just could not figure out that he had to roll the bowling ball. He still knocked down a few pins using his method of throwing the ball in the air towards the pins as hard as he could....and some of you already know that his throw is dangerously accurate. He also liked throwing the little basketballs in the hoop in another room. There was a NASA employee in one of the rooms that had an astronaut helmet and glove to try on. Collin really studied the glove when the guy put it on but wanted the helmet off as soon as the guy put it on. We did get two pictures of astronauts that Collin hung in his room with his hammer.

We did not stay for dinner of hot dogs and popcorn (not to appealing for me) so we picked up dinner and ate it at the bike shop with Daddy since he had to work late that night.

Growth Spurt

Collin has been a really good breakfast and lunch eater. When it comes to dinner, we never know if he is going to be hungry.....or should I say eat.....or not. I will think of at least options for dinner and start with one to see how that goes. If he is not interested, then I move to the next. Most of the time, he picks at his food but does eat some of it. I am not sure if he is snacking close to the time we pick him up and then have dinner or if he is really not hungry.

Well, last night was not the same scene at the house for dinner. He arrived and announced that he was hungry. Mimi was there because I was still on my way home from work. She gave him some eggs and hash browns which he did eat some of. He then ate 3 slices of Pappy bread (he calls all bread Pappy bread because of Pappy and his bagels) and then some strawberries. Not a back dinner so far....more than he usually eats at night. Then, I got home and started to make me some dinner after I put on some comfy clothes. He watched me eat my salad and then asked for snap, crackle, pops cereal. I poured him some in a little bowl and he ended up eating 3 1/2 bowls of cereal. He sure was not kidding when he said he was hungry.

Late last week when I picked Collin up, his teacher did comment that he was growing. I really had not noticed it....but I guess she was right.

More Medicine Mommy

Collin has had to take a lot of medicine the last few months because of pink eye, ear and sinus infection and possibly allergies. Fortunately, he thinks it's fun to take medicine from a dropper or drink it from a small measuring cup. Here is a quick video of him taking two different medications tonight. He had already taken one dropper full before I could get the camera started. This is him taking the other one and then drinking the allergy medication. I put drops in his eyes after that.....all without him crying or running away from me. Very lucky compared to what I heard from other parents and what they go through.

Lots of Friends Today

We woke up at 7am to Collin singing Happy Birthday (it's not anyone's birthday that I am aware of). I had hoped he would go back to sleep but he didn't and started yelling "Mommy" and then "I gotta eat" and then "I'm thirsty". He would alternate between these and say Mommy several times in between. I knew it was time to get up. He had the breakfast of champions this morning...7 small Cinnamon donuts and a slice of raisin bread. Less than 2 hours letter, he was ready for a snack. His teacher had mentioned last week that he was thinning out and growing. He sure is eating like it these days. After breakfast, we hung out with Daddy since he was going on the airplane this afternoon and would not see us for a few days.



Early in the afternoon, we met Maria and Matthew at Monkey Joe's which is an indoor playground filled with inflatable bouncing, sliding fun. Matthew and Collin followed each other around to the different inflated play areas. Collin had a BLAST!!! We were there over 2 hours. I could not believe we were there that long since the time went by so fast.

















Here is the brave little guy climbing the wall to go down the big kid slide. He eventually needed the Ref to help him but he still did it and did not cry.









Collin took much longer than I thought to fall asleep in the car. Glad I did not bet Maria that it would be less than 5 minutes because it was more like 20 minutes after we left. We were on our way to Angy and Jim's house for dinner. Collin fell asleep so hard than I was able to transfer him from the car to their couch. He slept for about 20 minutes before he woke up. We then sat on the couch with him and he fell back asleep in my arms. I knew he needed his rest after the day he already had. When he did wake up, it did not take him long to discover the dog that was in the crate in the living room. Knowing Collin's reaction to other dogs, I was surprised that he did not get scared. He actually stood there and talked to the dog and even barked at him. During dinner, Jim let the dog out in the back yard. Collin could not take his eyes off the dog. He watched him walk around the yard and said "he is on the table" when the dog put his paws on the table. Then, the dog started to find his spot relieved himself in the yard. Collin did not miss it and announced that "the dog pooped!" while he was pointing in the dog's direction. After dinner, Collin found the dog's ball and threw it to Jim. Fortunately, Jim was not standing too close because he found out what an accurate throwing arm Collin has. He throws far and accurately for the majority of his throws. Future baseball star? I guess we will have to wait and see. Later, we had desert which was mint Skinny Cows. Glad I split one with Collin since he took a small bite and said "I don't like it". He did eventually take a few licks while I was holding it. A few times, the ice cream got on his lips. We all laughed at this, including Collin. He then saw the kitties walking around and did not scream when he saw them like he has many times before with other cats. Maybe he is getting more comfortable around them? Probably because he was tired.

He did not fall asleep on the way home and announced that he was hungry when we pulled in to the driveway. He ate two peaches and then said he was tired. I bet he was!!

Great Saturday Morning

Ever since our walk on the trails by our house, Collin has been asking me to go for a walk. So, after breakfast and Daddy left for work, we walked over to the trails. Before we got there, he was talking about the birds and wanting to see the water. We went a different way than we did last time to see what new things we could find. As soon as he saw water, he ran over to it. He could not figure out why there was water underneath the bridge. The next time we walked on a bridge, he immediately stopped, looked down and pointed to the water. Here he is jumping off the bridge........hahaha, you probably thought it was a HUGE drop. He did this a few times, ran over to look at the pictures and then went back to jump again.

When we got back to the house, he wanted to get his basketball and play with the older boys that were playing across the street. Whenever he sees them out, he stops what he is doing to watch them. This time, however, he did want to actually play with them. At first, he sat and watched and then joined them after about 20 minutes. It was such a great day today that it was enjoyable to just sit outside and visit with the neighbors........even got invited to a dinner party tonight! Glad Mimi did not have plans tonight. Thanks Mimi!!! JP and Max came over to play with Collin and throw balls to each other. They are 1 and 4 and live at the end of our cul-de-sac. I hope these guys continue to enjoy playing with each other.

After basketball, it was time to runs some errands. In between one of them, I thought it would be fun to eat some ice cream. He picked out his own ice cream, hence the bright colors. He took a few bites and decided he wanted to eat mine instead. What mom's do for their little boys.

Still a sick puppy...

Not that you can tell from the post this morning, but Collin is still sick. Daddy had to pick him up from school this morning because he was concerning the other mommies with his crusty eyes and cough. Mimi took him to the doctor to find out that he does have a sinus and ear infection. More medicine!!! Collin at least loves to take the liquid medicine because he does the dropper himself after I load it. Giving him eye drops is better now that Grandma H told him how to "blink, blink" when we put the drops in his eyes. He still fusses and sometimes cries but it's MUCH better than the first two days of doing it. He has not changed his temperament through all of this so who knew that he had an ear infection. The kid never complains....except about his eyes hurting but this has gotten much better too.

I'm Hiding Mommy!

This is what Collin was doing in our closet this morning as I was getting dressed. He still REALLY likes to hide, then say "Mommy, I'm hiding" so that I will come find him. I have tried to tell him that when he is hiding, he as to be as quiet as he can so that I cannot find him (which I am glad that he is not listening since I don't want to lose him this way either). When he is hiding, if he does not call out and let me know he is hiding, I can hear him giggling from his hiding spot.

I must say that this spot he just recently found is a really good one. I used to love to do this when I was younger and remember that the more clothes there were, the better. In this spot, there is an area behind the box that has nothing in it. He can sit in this area and then jump out at me when I find him....as you can tell he has done in the pictures above. What I love about this is how much fun he has and the smile it puts on his face. I love it!

Grocery Helper

Last night, Collin and I went grocery shopping. He picked out the "car" cart and had a great time in it. I would tell him when we needed to turn, and I could see him frantically turning the wheel as we did turned. He even used his horn to "honk" at the people walking by. Must get the honking from Daddy's driving....hehehe Anyway, I did notice there were a few times that he leaned over and was trying to get something off the shelf. I caught him and told him that he needed to put it back. I think figured out that I needed to give him at least one item that we were buying that would occupy him and that he could not eat. Well......I did not catch him one time when he put something in the cart. I did not notice it until we were checking out. He had grabbed a bag of Sesame Sticks. Little sneak. I bought them anyway since they were something different and knew that I liked them if he did not want them.

When we got home and he was helping my unload the groceries, he did remember his "purchase" and wanted to open it. He liked them and ended up moving the bag around with him in different spots of the kitchen as he helped me cook dinner.

I love the little guy.

Nature Hike

This morning, Grandma H, Collin and I went on a nature hike on the trails by our house. These trails are through 17.5 acres of a bird sanctuary and are really peaceful to walk on. Collin really like walking across the bridges and the noise the wood made under his feet. Here I am teaching him to balance and walk across a log. He tried it a few times but loved jumping off of it the best.

We did have to stop at every a few times so Collin could look at the water in the bayou. I asked him if there were turtles in the water and he thought he needed to sit there and wait until he saw one. My bad for even mentioning the turtles because we did not see one and Collin did not want to budge from his spot on the bench.

Nope, no turtles......

At one rest point on a bench, he was listening to the birds and was trying to imitate their singing and chirping. He also saw a squirrel run through some fallen trees and underbrush. We did see two dogs. He was brave enough to briefly pet the smaller one but did not care for the big one and hid behind Mommy when he saw it. We walked for almost an hour. Collin wanted met to carry him for the last 10 minutes of the walk. He did great. I cannot wait until next weekend when we can do it again. I love that it's so close to our house. By the look on Collin's face in this picture, he did too.

Monkey in the Bed

Collin and I stayed home most of the day yesterday so that he could get some rest since he is still sick. I also wanted to clean the house and get it ready for Grandma H's visit. For most of the day, he did sit quietly and play with his cars or other toys. He found our variety of playing cards, mixed them all up and then put them back in matching piles. That occupied him for at least 30 minutes. Here he is enjoying some cartoons (Phineas and Ferb). Just like his Mommy and Aunt with those chips....

Later that day, I noticed it was more quiet than usual. I called out for Collin and he answered me from his room. I thought he must be in there throwing toys or stuffed animals to the top of his armoire like he likes to do. Nope! He crawled into his crib and was jumping in it.

I guess it's good that he still has a crib to jump in so he won't fall out. He really looks sick doesn't he?

Valentine Exchange

At school, Collin made a Valentine "mailbox" out of a shoe box and stickers he brought with him. Then, each of his friends put their Valentine card in the mail box of their friends. Some of them even gave some candy. Here is Collin showing me what his friends gave him. He was surprised, and so was I, to see that one of the bags had a cupcake in it.

Mimi is in BIG trouble

When I picked Collin up from school yesterday, he was singing. Remember, he loves to sing songs. Most of the time, I know the songs because I either taught him or he learned them in school. This song he was singing was different. I listened more closely and he was singing "pants on the ground, pants on the ground". Now, I knew I heard that before. If you watch American Idol or even heard on the news a few weeks ago, there was a contestant that was singing this song. Mimi thought it was funny and was singing it the other day when she was over watching Collin when he was sick. Well, she must have sang it one to many times because it stuck. All the way home...."Pants on the ground, pants on the ground".

Mimi!!!!!

Here are the lyrics and info about the song if you have no idea what I am talking about:
http://bubble20snarkgroup.com/pants-on-the-ground-lyrics/

Pink Eye Update

Collin looks and feels MUCH better this morning.....so he is going to school and happy about it. They are going to have a Valentine's party with lots of food, decorate their "mailbox" with stickers and exchange Valentine Day cards. He can't miss out on that.

Grandma H is coming to see us for the weekend. Should be a lot of fun.

Pink Eye

Collin had to leave school early yesterday and go to the doctor because his eyes were watery and swollen. We found out he has pink eye. Right now, we are not sure if it's viral or from bacteria. If bacteria, it should clear up within 3 days. If viral, then he will get more sick with sore throat, runny nose, etc before he gets better. We have to put drops in his eyes 3 times a day. He HATES this part. Each time, we are going to try something new to see if it helps. Daddy is probably trying it right now since I am already at the office this morning.

Feeling guilty now because he played at Chick-Fil-A the night before. I did have him wash his hands but maybe not enough. I know kids get sick frequently because they pass it around to each other but....it still does not make it any easier.

Dinner and Play Time

I met Collin and Daddy at Chick-Fil-A tonight since Daddy needed to leave for a meeting. Collin and Daddy shared chicken nuggets and fries. After Daddy left, Collin and I finished dinner. At one point, two motorcycle cops walked by the window where Collin was sitting, Collin waved and the officer waved back. He loved that and watched the cops walk into the place. Once he finished eating, he wanted wanted to play on the indoor playground equipment. At first, he watched the other little boy in there playing. Eventually, Collin climbed up the steps and then sat there...and sat there....I finally figured out that this was his "table" (see a previous post on 1/15/10) because he was pooping. After a potty break, we came back and he started climbing all over the place. Two other boys joined him and they had a great time. Here are a few pictures of him having fun.

Daddy, Are you OK?

Daddy was not feeling good last night (probably from all of the Super Bowl food the night before) so he sat on the couch and rested while Collin and I had dinner.....or I should say tried to have dinner. Collin was more concerned about Daddy and if he was OK instead of eating. He would take a bite of food and want to go see Daddy. Eventually, I did give up and we both headed to the kitchen to put our dishes away. Collin got his stool and grabbed my vitamins off the counter. He then went to Daddy on the couch and told him that he "needed to take medicine" because he was "not feeling good". Daddy just looked at him and then Collin asked "are you OK?" What a sweet little boy. Of course, Daddy did not want the medicine of Centrum Women's vitamins but Collin was insisting that he take them. Nothing distraction did not help. "Collin, want to help Mommy with the dishes?" He came running and forgot about Daddy not feeling good...hehehe

More Collin Sayings

While throwing his underwear on top of his armoire to try and get them stuck up there (hey, free entertainment cannot get any better than this), he would say "oh my gosh" when a pair got stuck. He would get more underwear and do it again. One time after some got stuck, he said "awww, so sad". This made me laugh, so he repeated it a few times more. Once, when he was backing up to get a better look at the top of the armoire, he made the beeping noise that a big truck might make when it backs up. We really needed to get dressed and leave the house but I could not stop him from having fun and cracking me up.

Later, when I sneezed, he said "bless you" like he does most of the time. This time, however, he added "are you OK?" How could I not answer that question?

Eye Update

Yesterday, we went to the hospital to see an opthamologist to consult with her about Collin's eyes and how he complains about them hurting. He did GREAT when it came time to test them and put his face and chin in the machine for her to look closer at his eyes. She did have to take a few pictures more than once on his left eye because he kept moving...but did not cry. When it came time to put in the drops to dilate his eyes, he DID cry though. As soon as she finished putting the drops in his eyes, he sat up and said "let's go". He got out of the chair, went to the door, opened it and waited for us to follow him. I cannot say I blame him. Here are a few pictures of him in the waiting room while we had to wait for his eyes to dilate.

We were there for over four hours. Overall, he did really well waiting that long and having people checking out his eyes many different times. After we left, it took him only 20 minutes to fall asleep. I needed to stop somewhere on the way home but didn't because I wanted him to get his rest.























While he walked around the water sculptures, he was singing "Ring around the rosies pocket on the posies". I had to laugh at his version of this song. We waited so long that I got hungry and needed a snack. I bought a bag of pretzel and cracker mix thinking Collin might eat some. He saw me open the bag and said "I need it". I gave him the bag to get a handful. Well, he kept getting one handful after another. I finally asked if I could have one. He dug around the bag to give me one of the crackers that was not his favorite. I told him "thank you" and asked if I could have another one. He said "the is no more" when clearly there was a plenty let. I asked again and he said "all gone" and pushed my hand away. What a stinker!

So, the doctor said that he did have swollen nerves around his optic nerve...more so in his left eye than his right.....and that the optic nerve was not as pronounced as it typically is. This, however, would not cause the symptoms he was having, mainly sensitivity to light and complaining of his eyes hurting. Because Collin did not have headaches or other symptoms related to swollen nerves and was behaving like a typical 2-year old, she said that she would rather wait a month to see if the swelling changes. In the meantime, we are to try not to highlight or discuss his eyes. If he says they hurt, we are not to pay too much attention to this. She thinks that maybe he is used to this behavior about saying his eyes hurt and could even be doing it for the attention. This is especially because he seems to be getting better since he is not complaining about his eyes as much as he did before.

Christmas in February?

As I have said before, Collin loves to sing. Sometimes in the morning, he wakes up whisper singing. We know that he is based on the rhythm of his words but cannot hear them because he is whispering so softly.

When he sings, he sings any song that he knows and can think of at the moment. The last week or so, it's been Jingle Bells....mainly when we are in the car. He clearly sings most of the main verse and chorus. What a stinker though. Now that I know that he knows the song, what was up with not singing during his school Christmas show? What a stinker.

He also LOVES to sing Happy Birthday. He will go down the list of people he knows and insert their name when it comes to the part about whose birthday it is. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't hear him say Mommy in the song too much.

Opposite Day

As you can tell from several previous posts, Collin is using full sentences these days. It's regular that we can have conversations with him. This does not mean, however, that every word he uses in the sentence is the correct word. For instance, any person is a male. He will use the male pronoun when referring to a male or female. At dinner the other night, he told Daddy to "get him some water" referring to Mommy. I told him that I was a girl and a "she". He corrected himself but then later used "he" again in another sentence about me.

He does still live in opposite land too. He will say:
- "off" when I know he means "on" (referring to the light usually)
- "up" when he means "down" (steps)

....and so on. If you follow what he says, he will get upset with you because you ARE doing opposite of what he is saying....but, he thinks you are not listening to him.

Another example of saying the reverse of what he really means is when he is getting out of car. He will get out of his car seat, step to my direction, and say "Mommy, I want to hold you" really meaning that he wants me to pick him up. This is always after he swings on the overhead handle once or twice (the handle where people might hang their clothes from the dry cleaners).

The little talker tonight

On the way home tonight, Collin and I were singing songs like we sometimes do while in the car. We sang ABCs, Bingo and then started to sing the Wheels on the Bus because it was raining (I thought Collin would love it when I actually turned the wipers on for the part when it's mentioned in the song). He stopped singing with me and said clearly "Momma, I gotta talk to you". I kept on singing because there was no way he just said that. He then repeated " Momma, I gotta talk to you" and then added "stopped singing". I stopped and he said "We played in the gym at school". I did not say anything to him and just let him talk. He continued to tell me who he played with and then that he wanted to get home and play with his fire truck which was at home. Daddy bought him a big fire truck yesterday that lights up, makes sounds and the ladder moves sideways. This is the same one he had to show Saige yesterday.